Eternally Falling
by Evil-Ekat
Summary: Falling... As Dipper tries to decode the laptop late one night, a realization of what he has become rears it's ugly head. Leaving him to wonder what to do when even the journal who told you no one could be trusted in the first place is the thing that he should mistrust the most. Set the night before "Sock Opera."


**I've been trying to get out there and show I'm not just a one-trick pony MaBill writer to people. So what better way than to do something about Dipper? Just a fair warning, it's the conclusion of this story that classifies it as a horror. If you want to stop past the second line break, by all means go ahead. Just don't come crying to me after you have.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.**

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><p>Dipper impatiently stared at his watch. He was sitting at the register, having taken over Wendy's shift in the gift shop. That was what friends did for each other. Friends... But the boy was not reminiscing over his crush at this present time.<p>

Ever since they had escape the bunker, his thoughts had been glued on one thing and one thing only. The laptop. He had been waiting for Soos to fix it for him. Today was the deadline the man-child had set for the key to all of his answers.

So many of his questions could be resolved! Ever since he had stepped off of that bus with his sister, the questions had just continued to pile up. Who ran the town? How did people afford to live here? Were there other places in the world like this? Why did mosquito bites even warn you to be careful? And what could easily be the most important thing of all, who wrote the journal? Who had been smart enough to document that was not what it seemed, prepare to hide away from the worst, knew someone was watching them?

The author, it felt like he was a part of Dipper. Finally someone who could understand him! Prove that he was not alone in this existence. No one had ever listened, no one had ever believed. But now, he had his chance. He could finally discover who had been the single voice of truth him this eternal plunge of enigmas. Just as soon as he got that laptop back and in working order! Where was Soos anyways?

The preteen got up from his stool, and peered out the window in the door. The sun was slowly sinking behind the mountains, lighting the sky in the familiar painted sunset of the mountains. Soon stars, more clear than he could ever see back home in Piedmont would be blinking down at them all, sharing their own mysterious lives with that of the town.

A silhouette appeared on the horizon. First it was nothing more than a black blob, but as it approached, it became more defined. The familiar tubby shape of Soos formed. The handyman was huffing and puffing as he ran towards Dipper with the laptop in hand.

Dipper rushed outside to meet him, and snatched the laptop out of his hand, flipping the screen open. Soos was too busy trying to catch his breath to say anything. So the Mystery Twin watched in near silence as the screen flickered, and the ancient machine slowly booted back to life. The boy felt his heart soar. Finally! He could discover it all! This was the ticket to his grand slam! He excitedly watched as a triangular hourglass formed on the screen, and filled with sand as it loaded.

"Soos! You did it!" He cheered.

Soos, still sweating could barely reply so much as grin at the praise.

"Y-yea... I guess I kinda' did dude..." He panted, suddenly collapsing on the ground. "I would have brought it earlier, but someone stole all of my socks. Like, who does that dude?"

Dipper paid no mind to his friend's suffering. He was so close to discovery! There would be so much that would finally make sense! The hourglass stopped, as did his heart. Dismay flooded through him as the dreaded words filled the bulky screen of the computer.

_Insert Password_

"No." He whispered to himself, his voice growing louder with every denial. "No! Nonononono! This can't be! There can't be a password!"

The handyman attempted to give him a comforting pat, but couldn't reach his shoulder from the ground. Instead, he patted his ankle. Dipper ignored this, and instead ran back inside, planning on taking it to the attic and decoding it there. But before he could go anywhere, the preteen crashed in to Stan as he walked out of his office. The boy yelped, fumbling with the laptop, but luck was on his side, and he caught it before anymore damage could be wrought.

"Sorry!" He quickly apologized, trying to run out of the hall.

Dipper was yanked back as his great-uncle caught him by the collar of his vest. The boy nearly lost hold of his prize once more, but he still held on to the computer. At least, untill Stan pulled it out of his grasp. Looking down at Dipper and the hardware suspiciously, the elderly man asked;

"This computer doesn't happen to break the promise we made, does it?"

"What?" He laughed off. "Of course not! I just got this in the mail from my dad, asking me if I could decrypt for... A work friend! Ya! One of his coworkers! He knows I'm good at this sort of stuff!"

Stan did not buy his lie one bit. As a con man, he always could tell a lie from the truth. But he did not convey this to Dipper. After all, he had a bargain he was supposed to be holding up as well.

"You know, I've solved a puzzle or two in my time." He slowly offered. "Do you want some help with this?"

"Nope! I'm fine!" He practically squeaked. "Can I have it back now please?"

Stan sighed and shook his head before letting go of Dipper and relinquishing the laptop. He would just have to find a way to keep him from unlocking it later. The grey-haired man stomped down the hall, planning to take refuge in the basement once more. Now free of any distractions, he rushed up to his room, and immediately leaped onto his bed. It was time to unleash the greatest mysteries of Gravity Falls.

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><p>Dipper awoke the next morning, his face smashed against the keyboard of his enigma. All night he had stayed up, yet he got nowhere! The boy rubbed his face where the little square indents pressed on his face. He should probably wait before going to get breakfast. He didn't want Mabel to joke about this, or worse, make Stan suspicious about the computer.<p>

This all changed as he suddenly heard Stan scream, followed by Mabel and Soos' own shrieks of fear and terror. Dipper felt his blood run cold. It sounded like it had all come from the gift shop. Laptop in arms, he leaped down the stairs and bounded in to the room. It took a moment for him to make sense of everything that was going on, the world seemed to spin around him.

There were people dressed in hooded robes, he could hardly make anything out on their features except for a single eye that had been crossed out in a solid red X. Then there were those two government agents, Trigger and Powers who stood in the room as well. Soos and Stan were being restrained by the people in the robes, while the government workers held a kicking and snarling Mabel. Stan was sobbing, he had never seen his tough great-uncle cry before. Mabel and Soos were trying to struggle away as well, but they were crying too. Mabel had no idea what was going on, but knew it could not be good.

"Let go of them you hooded ugly-faced jerks! I bet you're only wearing those stupid things because you're all butt-faces!"

"Dipper Pines." A man's voice said from within one of the hoods, ignoring the girl's protests. "I believe you hold something we want back."

Started, the boy recoiled. How did they know his name? Why did they want the laptop? His attention was brought away from the robed figures as Agent Powers said;

"Don't give it to 'em kid. We're dealing with an unknown enemy here. Let us take it, and we'll give back your sister."

"If you give it to them, it's good-bye for Stanford and company." A voice threatened.

"N-no..." Dipper stuttered, stepping back from the crowd of people. "No!"

Grating his teeth, the agent said;

"Come on kid, you know you can't live without your sister. We need that computer."

"But what about your friend and great-uncle as well?" Another masked voice interjected. "That is if he even is what he pretends to be."

The preteen, still clutching the computer tightly shook his head.

"No! I'm not giving it to either of you!"

"Dipper, are you insane?! Just give up the computer!" His sister commanded.

"No..." He echoed once more.

"Do it kid!"

"Dude please!"

"Dipper, just do it!"

"Hand it over to us Dipper."

"You don't know what you're really dealing with. Give it to us Dipper."

"Dipper!"

"Dipper!"

"Dipper!"

The Mystery Twin did not know what happened next. The world suddenly went black around him. Things flashed before his eyes as people continued to call his name.

The Shack, the journals, his laptop...

The men in the robes...

Those agents...

Stan, always Stan, leaning against the vending machine in the gift shop. Why there? Soos' face showed as well, always seeming to blend with Gideon's...

Then Mabel's followed as she pleaded and begged for him to give up the answers so he could save them...

_See what's going to happen? See what you've become because you didn't follow the advice you were given? There would come a day when everything you cared about would change, and that date is today. But there's still another choice, you can avoid this all. All of it, if you just do one simple thing. But I know you can't, won't. Too bad really. You remind me of a fellow I used to know around thirty years ago..._

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><p>Dipper woke up for real this time with a start. It was not morning, it was not another day. It was still nighttime outside. His face was indeed resting on the keys of the laptop, but not for all that long. The light the screen provided gently it the room in a ghostly light. His sister curiously looked over at him, before hiding a pair of socks and her craft supplies behind her back.<p>

"What's that matter bro-bro?" She innocently inquired. "Did ya have a weird dream or somethin'?"

Rubbing the spot on his forehead where his birthmark resided, the twin yawned;

"Ya, you could call it that. It felt so real at first, but it suddenly went all berserk on me."

Mabel nodded, not knowing how to reply. Still holding her forerunners of puppets in hand, the brunette began to edge her way out of the room. She didn't want to reveal the surprise after all! Dipper was totally going to love it!

"Well, I need ro be somewhere that's not here because you're awake now." She hastily explained. "So 'night Dipping-Sauce."

"'Night Mabel." The boy replied.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite! Stan never aired our the mattresses after all."

The preteen grimaced, trying to not let that thought get to him now. Mabel walked out of the room and went elsewhere to continue with designing her sock puppets, giving the boy time to gain his bearings in the real world once more.

He chose not to stare down at the screen of the laptop, but instead give his back a break from being hunched over. Dipper lay down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, now attempting to recall the details of his nightmare that were slipping out of his grasp.

That voice speaking at the end. What had it been saying? What did it mean? How come he had not been able to give up the laptop. His sister, Soos and Stan were in danger. His family and friend, the people he cared about the most were threatened, and yet he could not make the obvious choice and sacrifice his answers.

Was it because he didn't know who to save? Could it be that he knew neither party would hand over his family if he did what they wanted. Yes, that had to be it, that had to be the logic behind his actions. Why else would he choose not to? It was then the logic behind his actions, cruel, biting logic shattered the false solace he had created.

He had not given the laptop over because he wanted to keep it for himself. He chose his answers, the computer over their lives. He chose what could have been his solution to the mystery of Gravity Falls. After logic came and left, denial took it's place. Why? That couldn't be right! Even his logical thinking sometimes failed! His answer came to him in the same way his logical deduction had. Cold, merciless, a harsh reality.

He was trapped. Dipper Pines was falling eternally deeper in to the mysteries of Gravity Falls. No matter how hard he could try to pull himself out of this bottomless pit, curiosity and uncertainty would drag him back down once more so he could continue to investigate.

Search, discover, remember, record at any costs. He had ignored the warnings to back off, to trust no one. Trust no one... Not even the journal who had told you in the first place as well. The thing that had sucked you down in to investigating, the reason behind why this had all happened to you. The reason why there was no escape, hope for him or anyone.

Even if he wanted to leave it all behind, chose to heed his great-uncle's advice and stop before he got hurt, Dipper then realized that he couldn't. If there came a time when he had to choose between the two things that truly mattered, he would pick the mysteries of Gravity Falls. He had no choice but to toil on, no way to fight back at what the town had turned him in to. This was the day in the future where everything he cared about would change.


End file.
